On the 6th October 1955, a revolutionary-designed car was unveiled
at the Paris Motor Show at the Grand
Palais. This was the start of a French love-affair with the DS or
la déesse [the goddess] [1]. Now,
what the French would regard as “the” car of the 20th century
is a collector’s piece.

Called a spaceship by some, this originally conceived car had aerodynamic
lines, a range of new colours that escaped from the drab Ford-initiated
black, and introduced innovative engineering that included fully hydraulic
steering, brakes, gear change and suspension. It might be said that the Citroën
DS revolutionised automotive standards for not just the 1950s, but also decades
to come.

The DS started with a 1.9 litre engine [the DS19] that came from a previous
Citroën model, the Traction Avant - an engine that while adequate was
not appropriately powered for this novel car. An upgrade was made with a 2.1
litre engine [the DS21]. Finally, after Citroën had bought Masarati in
1970, the DS received a Maserati V6 engine - 2.7 litres then 3.0 litres. This
model could do 140mph and accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in about 8.2 seconds.
This was the Citroën SM.

For the fiftieth anniversary of the DS’s début,
there is an exhibition at the Cité des sciences et l'industrie,
Port de Villette, north-east Paris until 1st November. Meanwhile, 1,600 DS
are gathering at St Quentin en Yvelines, near Versailles in preparation for
a parade from the Arc de Triomphe to the Eiffel Tower on Sunday, 9th October.

end notes

The Citroën DS was famously called
the goddess (a pun on the letters DS which sound simuilar to the French
word for goddess - déesse) by Roland
Barthes in 1957 [link to translation from part of Mythologies].